Beyond the Cotton Fields

Chapter 16

"You cannot do this, Father!" Koi yelled. His vision had turned red, his muscles were tensed, and he was unsure of how much longer he could contain himself before he took his father's neck in his hands and squeezed it. When his father told him of his plan, he wasalmost sure he had misheard his words. But once the chief repeated his plan, Koi was sure he heard correctly and shook with anger.

"You will not speak to me in such a manner!" The chief yelled back.

"You will not run off or kill Lucy and our unborn child!"

"You do not tell me what I will and will not do! I am the chief of this tribe and your father! And my mind is made up! The girl has 6 days to be gone from this tribe and village, or she will perish!"

"Why are you doing this?! Lucy has done nothing wrong! She had helped this tribe prepare for winter, cared for the little ones, and the tribe welcomes her as a member! Mother is educating her to become a healer for the tribe! She is helping! You cannot harm her!"

The chief looked at his son from his sitting position on the ground of his hut. The two men glared at each other and uttered no words.

"My mind is made up," The chief replied, coldly, "The girl has 6 days to leave, or she will die. Now, leave my hut."

"You will not hurt her. You will not keep her and our child away from me. That is my family. I love Lucy, and I love our unborn child." Koi walked out of the hut, without saying another word to his father.

***

Lucy stood on the snowy rocks that lined the forest stream, harpoon in hand. She had already broken the ice on the top of the water, revealing the escaping fish underneath. Three fish laid  in her ice-filled basket, gasping and dying. She looked down into the stream and plunged the harpoon into the water quickly with force. When she withdrew the harpoon from the water, a fish flopped around on the other end. She repeated this process for another hour and a half until 7 fish laid in her basket.

She picked up the basket, with harpoon in hand, and made her way back to the village. With 6 days left, she figured she should stil contribute to the tribe as she contemplated what she was going to do.

"Hello, little slave girl." A voice said from behind her. Lucy turned around, meeting Apenimon's eyes.

"What're ya doin' here?" She asked, glaring at him to hide her fear.

"Nothing to concern yourself with." He smirked as he stepped closer to her.

"Stay away from me." She warned, stepping back. Her grip tightened on the basket and harpoon.

"Why, little slave girl? Do I scare you? Do you fear me?"

"No." She scowled.

"You should fear me. There is a lot to fear about me." He lunged at her and pushed her into a tree, holding her up by her neck.

"Uncle has told me to run you off or kill you in 6 days. I do not know which one I will do. What do you think I should do?" He withdrew his knife from its holster and pressed it to her neck. Her breath got caught in her throat and her eyes grew big.

"I do not want to kill you, little slave girl. You are a very pretty nigger girl." He used the knife to stroke her cheek without cutting her.

"Please don't hurt me." She pleaded, shakily.

"I will not hurt you, little slave girl. I want to help you. But, you have to help me first."

"What d'ya mean?" She asked. Apenimon took his hand from her neck and put his knife back into its holster.

"My men and I were heading up north to trade furs with Canadians, but it seems as though my father has fallen ill. He is the chied and his tribe is in South Carolina. As his son, I am to be the next chief."

"Why d'ya need me?"

"I have neither a son to take my place as chief when I die, nor a wife. I want you to marry me and bear me a son."

"Aren't there other women in his tribe?"

"Yes, but why wait when you are right here?"

"I'm withchild with Koi's baby. I love Koi."

"We will worry about that later. Will you help me? I can take you to safety. No one will try to kill you in the tribe of my father. You will be the wife of a chief. You will have power. You will have a family. You will have everything you want."

"I won't have Koi."

"Koi can do nothing for you. He is weak. He will be a weak chief when his time comes."

"I love him."

"You will bear me a son, you little nigger!" He yelled. He pushed her back into the tree, pushed the basket and harpoon out of her hands, and forced her hides up.

"No! Get off me! No!" Lucy screamed and kicked, trying to get away from him.

"I will get what I want!" Apenimon yelled, pulling down his pants.

As he moved his hips closer to hers, Lucy reached into his holster, grabbed his knife, and pushed it into his abdomen. His movements halted and he looked down at the knife protruding from the hides over his stomach. He grabbed the knife and took it from his stomach, blood soaking his hides. He stumbled back and fell into the snow, gasping for air like the harpooned fish that were in the basket. His eyes were looking up at the sky and his pants were around his ankles. The knife laid beside him and the fish from the basket were scattered around him. The harpoon laid about a foot awat from his body. It was a strange sight, to say the least.

"Apenimon! Apenimon!" Voices called. Lucy panicked after hearing the voices. She looked down at Apenimon's almost lifeless body and the bright red snow. She looked back in the direction where the voices came. She looked around the forest and began running in the opposite direction, hoping it would start snowing to cover her footsteps.